consent

English

Etymology

Recorded in Middle English since circa 1225, borrowed from Old French consentir, from Latin cōnsentīre, present active infinitive of cōnsentiō (“to feel together”), itself from com- (“with”) + sentiō (“to feel”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈsɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt
• Hyphenation: con‧sent

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

consent (third-person singular simple present consents, present participle consenting, simple past and past participle consented) (intransitive)

1. To express willingness, to give permission.

   After reflecting a little bit, I've decided to consent.

   • c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:

     My poverty, but not my will, consents.

2. (medicine) To cause to sign a consent form.
   • 2002, T Usmani; KD O'Brien, HV Worthington, S Derwent, et al, “A randomized clinical trial to compare the effectiveness of canine lacebacks with reference to …”, in Journal of Orthodontics:

     When the patient was consented to enter the study and registered, a telephone call was made to research assistant

3. (obsolete) To grant; to allow; to assent to.
   • 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], OCLC 868004604, book:

     Interpreters […] will not consent it to be a true story.

4. To agree in opinion or sentiment; to be of the same mind; to accord; to concur.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Acts 8:1:

     And Saul was consenting unto his death.

   • 1655, Thomas Fuller, James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), new edition, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, OCLC 913056315:

     Flourishing many years before Wyclif, and much consenting with him in judgment.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (intransitive): acquiesce, agree, approve, assent, concur, yes

Antonyms

• (intransitive): disagree, object, oppose

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sent-‎ (2 c, 0 e)

Translations

to express willingness

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: razılaşmaq (az)
• Bulgarian: съгласявам се (sǎglasjavam se), съгласен съм (sǎglasen sǎm)
• Catalan: consentir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾 (zh), 承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì)

• Czech: souhlasit (cs)
• Dutch: toestemmen (nl) (in), instemmen (nl) (met)
• Esperanto: konsenti (eo)
• Finnish: hyväksyä (fi), suostua (fi), myöntyä (fi)
• French: consentir (fr), approuver (fr), agréer (fr)
• Georgian: თანხმობა (tanxmoba)
• German: zustimmen (de), einwilligen (de)
• Greek: συναινώ (el) (synainó)
• Hebrew: הסכים‎ (he) (hiskím)
• Hungarian: beleegyezik (hu), hozzájárul (hu), hozzájárulását adja
• Icelandic: samþykkja, fallast á
• Indonesian: setuju (id), rela (id)
• Interlingua: consentir
• Irish: toiligh
• Italian: consentire (it)
• Japanese: 承諾する (ja) (しょうだくする, shōdaku suru), 同意する (ja) (どういする, dōi suru)

• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 승낙하다, 동의하다 (seungnakhada, dong'uihada)
• Latin: consentiō
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: whakaae, tatū
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: samtykke (no), bifalle

• Occitan: consentir (oc), assentir (oc)
• Polish: zgadzać się (pl), przyzwalać
• Portuguese: consentir (pt), aprovar (pt), deixar (pt)
• Quechua: awñiy
• Romanian: consimți (ro)
• Russian: соглаша́ться (ru) impf (soglašátʹsja), согласи́ться (ru) pf (soglasítʹsja) (agree), разреша́ть (ru) impf (razrešátʹ), разреши́ть (ru) pf (razrešítʹ) (permit)
• Serbo-Croatian: suglasnost (sh) f
• Spanish: consentir (es)
• Swedish: samtycka (sv), ge sitt samtycke
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: באַשטיין‎ (bashteyn)

to cause to sign a consent

• Finnish: hankkia suostumus

Noun

consent (countable and uncountable, plural consents)

1. Voluntary agreement or permission.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 6, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:

     All men know by experience, there be some parts of our bodies which often without any consent of ours doe stirre, stand, and lye down againe.

2. (obsolete) Unity or agreement of opinion, sentiment, or inclination.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Luke 14:18:

     And they all with one consent began to make excuse.

3. (obsolete) Advice; counsel.

Synonyms

• (voluntary agreement): agreement, approval, assent, consensualness, permission, willingness, yes

Antonyms

• (voluntary agreement): dissent, disagreement, opposition, refusal

Derived terms

• consenter
• consentaneous
• age of consent

Translations

voluntary agreement

• Arabic: رِضًا‎ (ar) (riḍan)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: ইজাব (ijab)
• Bulgarian: съгласие (bg) n (sǎglasie), разрешение (bg) n (razrešenie)
• Catalan: consentiment (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 承諾 (zh), 承诺 (zh) (chéngnuò), 同意 (zh) (tóngyì)

• Czech: souhlas (cs) m
• Dutch: toestemming (nl) f, instemming (nl) f
• Esperanto: konsento
• Finnish: suostumus (fi)
• French: consentement (fr) m, approbation (fr) f, agrément (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Zustimmung (de) f, Konsens (de) m, Einverständnis (de) n
• Greek: συναίνεση (el) f (synaínesi)
• Hebrew: הסכמה‎ f (haskama)
• Hungarian: beleegyezés (hu)
• Icelandic: samþykki n
• Indonesian: persetujuan (id)
• Interlingua: consentimento
• Irish: deoin f
• Italian: consenso (it) m
• Japanese: 承諾 (ja) (しょうだく, shōdaku), 同意 (ja) (どうい, dōi)
• Kazakh: келісім (kk) (kelisim)

• Khmer: ការយល់ព្រម (kaa yʊəl prɔɔm)
• Korean: 승낙, 동의 (seungnak, dong'ui)
• Latin: consensiō f
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: согласност f (soglasnost)
• Maori: kupu whakaae
• Occitan: consentiment m
• Persian: رضایت‎ (fa) (rezâyat)
• Polish: zgoda (pl) f, pozwolenie (pl) n
• Portuguese: consentimento (pt) m
• Romanian: consimțământ (ro) n
• Russian: разреше́ние (ru) n (razrešénije) (permission), дозволе́ние (ru) n (dozvolénije) (permission), согла́сие (ru) n (soglásije) (agreement)
• Scottish Gaelic: aonta m
• Spanish: consentimiento (es) m, venia, anuencia (es) f (formal)
• Swedish: samtycke (sv) n
• Tamil: சம்மதம் (ta) (cammatam)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Welsh: cydsyniad m, caniatâd m

Further reading

• consent at OneLook Dictionary Search
• consent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• nocents

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.sɑ̃/

Verb

consent

1. third-person singular present indicative of consentir